Shock absorbing device for air-column sheet

ABSTRACT

The present invention discloses a shock absorbing device for an air-column sheet comprising a plurality of adjacently coupled air columns, and each air column has an inflating/check valve and forms an independent inflating space, wherein the air columns are thermally pressed into several bending points, so that the air-column sheet can be bent to 90 degrees, 180 degrees, or even 360 degrees when the bending points are connected. The bent air-column sheet forms a continuous shock absorbing wall along the left, right, up, and down directions, which can be used as an internal air pad of a box, and the width and appearance of air columns can be changed to form a flat or non-flat internal air pad for improving the shock absorbing function and providing a special function of reinforcing the protection on both sides or inside by partitions from by the bent internal air pad.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a shock absorbing device for an air-column sheet, and each air column includes a bending point for bending the air-column sheet into an angle of 90 degrees to form a shock absorbing wall which is used as an air pad inside a box. Two bending points form a bridge that can bend the air-column sheet into an angle of 180 degrees, a double-layer reinforcing wall, or a partition inside a box. With the bending points disposed at both ends, a shock absorbing wall is formed on both sides, such that if two lower ends of the air-column sheet are used as a cut line, the lower end of the shock absorbing wall is turned in an opposite direction to form a shock absorbing container having a double-layer shock absorbing wall on both sides.

2. Description of the Related Art

Packing materials are used extensively in our life, and the quality of packing materials will give rise to an artistic look of a product, and thus a packaging design is essential to different industries. In addition to the decorating purpose of a product, packing materials also has a function of protecting the product from being damaged. Therefore, many different kinds of packing materials are developed, and traditional packing materials include those made of cloth, paper, foam, and polystyrene plastic, etc. These packing materials definitely provide a shock absorbing effect, but also create a problem to our environmental protection.

In recent years, thin films adopting a low-density polyethylene and air columns thermally compressed from air check valves are used, and the air columns are formed into an air-column bag which can be inflated into a shock-resisting airbag such as a “Packaging Airbag” disclosed in R.O.C. Pat. No. M2463117 or a “Manufacturing Apparatus for Packaging Airbag” disclosed in R.O.C. Pat. Application No. 093206617. These patented technologies are inflating bag and equipment related technologies. Further, an “Inflating shock-resisting airbag” disclosed in R.O.C. Pat. No. ZL200420024028 is a packaging bag comprising a plurality of adjacent non-interconnected air columns suitable to be used in flat or rectangular objects but not applicable for irregular or cubic objects, since the left and right protruding corners will increase the packaging space, and such shock-resisting airbag does not come with a shock absorbing wall or a multiple of walls.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the foregoing shortcomings of the “bag” according to the prior art airbags, the inventor of the present invention improves the limited shock-resisting airbag by using the concept of a “sheet” to integrate an air-column sheet with bending points. The bending points and air column sheet are used as internal air pad of a box, and the air pad can be changed flexibly according to the shape and size of the box. The invention not only increases the shock absorbing effect, but also increases the using space and lowers the cost.

To further disclose the technical contents of the present, refer to the following figures, wherein FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a single air-column sheet of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a schematic view of adding bending points to for a bending wall according to the present invention; FIG. 3 is a schematic view of forming three shock absorbing walls according to the present invention; FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a shock absorbing device formed by enclosing two sets of three shock absorbing walls according to the present invention; FIG. 5 is a schematic view of forming a bridge by two sets of bending points according to the present invention; FIG. 6 is a schematic view of a cut line added to a shock-absorbing device according to the present invention; FIG. 7 is a schematic view of adding a cut line to form a container shape according to the present invention; and FIG. 8 is a schematic view of two enclosed shock absorbing spaces according to the present invention. line to form a container shape according to the present invention; and FIG. 8 is a schematic view of two enclosed shock absorbing spaces according to the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a single air-column sheet of the present invention;

FIG. 2 a is a schematic view of adding bending points to for a bending wall according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 b is a schematic view of adding bending points and bends to form a shock absorbing wall according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of forming three shock absorbing walls according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a shock absorbing device formed by enclosing two sets of three shock absorbing walls according to the present invention;

FIG 5 a is a schematic view of forming a bridge by two sets of bending points according to the present invention;

FIG. 5 b is a schematic view of forming a bridge by two sets of bending points and bends to form two parallel walls according to the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic view of a cut line added to a shock-absorbing device according to the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of adding a cut line to form a container shape according to the present invention; and

FIG. 8 is a schematic view of two enclosed shock absorbing spaces according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In the figures, the shock absorbing device in accordance with the present invention comprises a plurality of adjacently coupled air columns 1, and each air column 1 includes an inflating/air check valve 2, and the inflating/air check valve 2 is a device having the function of automatically stopping air, after the air columns 1 are filled up with air or preventing the air from being leaked from the air column 1. The air column 1 could be in a bar shape, an arc shape, a rhombus shape, or various other shapes, or a combination of the shapes, and the width and size (or the external diameter) of the air columns could be equal, unequal, or a combination, and the length of air columns 1 could be equal, unequal, or a combination. Basically, the air column sheet forms a shock absorbing wall.

Referring to FIG. 2 a and FIG. 2 b for another shock absorbing wall, a bending point 4 can be added at an appropriate position of each air column 1, and the quantity of bending points could be one or more, and the shape of the bending points includes but not limiting to a circular shape formed by a thermal pressing method or any other method. The thermally pressed bending point 4 is also known as an air column node and the air-column sheet can be bent into an angle of 90 degrees, such that if the nodes are superimposed on the same position of the air-column nodes, the air-column sheet is formed into a sidewall.

In FIG. 3, if the bending points 4 are set on both sides of the air column 1, a horizontal shock absorbing surface and two shock absorbing walls are formed. In FIG. 4, if the two shock absorbing walls are set opposite to each other, a protecting space is formed in the up, down, left, and right directions of the interior of the shock absorbing wall for containing objects. The air-column sheet formed by the rectangular air columns 1 can be divided into four sections, and more sections with bending points 4 may form a cylindrical barrel with an open end, but such arrangement is only one of the applications, and thus will not be described here.

As to a wall surface that requires reinforcements (such as a lateral reinforcement) as shown in FIG. 5 a and FIG. 5 b, two bending points are used to form a small section of a bridge 5, so as to achieve the reinforcing effect with two sidewalls by bending the air-column sheet twice.

Referring to FIG. 6 for the bending points 4 of the present invention, a cut line 6 is added to form a shock absorbing container. In FIG. 6, the air-column sheet of the invention can add the bending points 4 and the cut lines 6 according to a required size, and then the air-column sheet can be folded to fit a container and provide the shock absorbing effect on the six surfaces of the container. The cut line 6 can be formed by cutting a dotted line in advance, so as to facilitate the tearing. In FIG. 7, a desired object is contained in the container, and such container could be an “internal box” of a package, and the foregoing reinforcing walls can be formed by folding along the bending points 4.

The use of bending points 4 breaks through the obstacle of the traditional stylish design. For certain products such as camera equipment, an operational manual, a user's guide, and other accessories are packed in addition to the object (or camera) itself as shown in FIG. 8. If the bending points 4 are adopted for the air-column sheet of the present invention and a lid is used, then two closed spaces can be formed to produce the products, and the recessed upper space can contain the manuals and accessories, and thus solving the long existing problem of an unorganized package. Therefore, the use of the bending point breaks through many limitations of the stylish design.

In practical applications of the present invention, the following effects can be achieved:

1. The bending points are used to form a vertical surface for the air-column sheet, and thus providing a protecting effect along another direction.

2. A derived application comes with various changes, particularly the use with a bridge, so that a single air-column sheet can form a reinforcing wall, which is a well-known breakthrough application of the air-column sheet.

3. With the cut lines, a container can be formed in advance to exempt the uneasy positioning of enclosing fix separated air-column sheets according to the prior art.

4. The bending points can be produced easily and made with different shape, such as a circuit point, a square point, a triangular point, or an elliptic point, etc. The air column could have one or more bending points for adjusting the bending shape.

5. If the size is fixed, the shock absorbing devices can be made in mass production and tied into bundles for facilitating the cutting, storage, and transportation of the shock absorbing devices.

While the invention has been described by means of specific embodiments, numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention set forth in the claims.

In summation of the above description, the present invention herein enhances the performance than the conventional structure and further complies with the patent application requirements and is submitted to the Patent and Trademark Office for review and granting of the commensurate patent rights. 

1. A shock absorbing device for an air-column sheet, having a plurality of adjacently coupled air columns, and each air column comprising: an inflating/air check valve for forming an independent inflating space; and a bending point for coupling the upper and lower portion of said each air column for forming a shock absorbing wall.
 2. The shock absorbing device for an air-column sheet of claim 1, wherein said each air column comes with an equal length, an unequal length, or a combination of lengths.
 3. The shock absorbing device for an air-column sheet of claim 1, wherein said each air column is selectively inflated or not inflated.
 4. The shock absorbing device for an air-column sheet of claim 1, wherein said each air column has an equal width, an unequal width, or a combination of widths.
 5. The shock absorbing device for an air-column sheet of claim 1, wherein said each air column includes two sets of bending points, and a short bridge is formed between two sets of bending points to be bent to form a reinforcing wall.
 6. The shock absorbing device for an air-column sheet of claim 1, wherein said air-column sheet includes a cut line for cutting and separating a portion of said air column to be enclosed to form a container.
 7. The shock absorbing device for an air-column sheet of claim 1, wherein said bending point is in a circular shape, a square shape, a triangular shape, an elliptic shape, or other irregular shapes.
 8. The shock absorbing device for an air-column sheet of claim 1, wherein said each air column has two or more bending points.
 9. The shock absorbing device for an air-column sheet of claim 1, wherein said air column is linear, curved, or a combination of both.
 10. The shock absorbing device for an air-column sheet of claim 1, wherein said bending points are arranged to form a cut line that can be torn apart. 